The Fight Against City Hall Continues

    It's an old adage that you can't fight City Hall.  Nevertheless, some people keep trying, whether they get anywhere or not.  Today's candidate for head bumping is Kenneth Reiner, who writes in a  letter to City Council:

    "For the past several months citizens of Los Angeles have witnessed a struggle between the Department of Building and Safety — which was determined to tear down a group of artistic structures called the Watts Towers — and a band of citizens dedicated to their preservation.

    "AT THE HEARING city engineers testified the towers could not withstand more than 1/12th the force of a 70-mile wind, the code requirement.  It was agreed to subject them to a load test, simulating the 70-mile wind.  The towers withstood the test with ease.  In addition, the test demonstrated that the city engineers had understated the strength of the towers by a ratio in excess of 12 to 1.
   
"For years we have been hampered by rigid codes compounded by arbitrary administration; as a result the development of modern building methods in Los Angeles have been stifled.

    "The fundamental lesson to be learned is the need for revision of our code if our city is to remain abreast of advancing construction technology.  The time to make this change is now while attention is focused on the problem."

    A MAN NAMED Bob went to see his doctor, who also has a patient Bob's father-in-law, a cantankerous old gentleman.  They were discussing the old boy's eccentricities, particularly his resistance to modern ideas, when the doc said, "He certainly has a whim of iron."

    STAREY NIGHTS
Our technical knowledge
    and our skill
Created a monster, gri-
    macing and hideous,
In turn, it has bent us to its
    will,
Creating a race of be-
    dumbed televidiots.
        -ED LYTLE

    ONLY IN L.A.  –  Eli Ressler, KNXT news cameraman, was waiting for the signal to change at 3rd and La Brea when a  Rambler rammed his 1959 Cadillac in the rear.

    Not only that, the irate driver rushed up and exclaimed, "There out to be  a law against big battleships like this menacing us drivers!"

    Ressler pointed out he'd been stopped and the other guy had smacked him.

    "That makes no difference," was the reply.  "these big cars shouldn't be allowed on the streets!"

    So, another one for the insurance companies.

   ONCE UPON a time, Mattie Rae relates, there was a husband and wife team of taxidermists.  They worked happily together for many years but there came the time when the husband began to stray.  At first it was one night a week, then several nights, then week ends.
   
Finally the wife could stand the anguish no longer and she killed him.  She stuffed him neatly, dressed him in a comfortable outfit with smoking jacket and slippers, stuck a pipe in his mouth, a book in his hands and sat him in an easy chair before the fireplace.  Now she had him home and he was all hers and she was content.

    In time the police discovered her stuffy performance and she was brought to justice.  She testified it was a natural instinct for a woman to want her husband by her side.  The judge called it justifiable homey side and dismissed the case.

    FOOTNOTES — The Red Cross here received a $50 contribution the other day from a Harry Sahl in S.F. with a note of appreciation for help given him by the L.A. chapter in 1919 — 40 years ago.  He didn't state what the assistance was, merely apologized for his tardiness . . . Variety's only coverage of a certain headlined hegira was in its Who's Where column, as follows:  "Evelyn Rudie to Baltimore" . . . In announcing that the American Youth Symphony Orchestra will give its first concert tomorrow at Sun Valley Junior High, Victorde Veritch , music department head, invited students to come and bring their parents.  One youngster asked, "Do we have to bring our parents?"

Racing the Stork